MRI - Acquisition of a high resolution multibeam sonar for coastal ocean research

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Acquisition of a multibeam echosounder sonar (MBES) mapping system will galvanize marine research and educational programs at Stockton University, a regional, comprehensive, primarily undergraduate institution. This project will increase the capacity to integrate research with teaching in the areas of remote sensing of coastal evolution, succession and submerged structure ecology and habitat value. Masters and undergraduate students will benefit from this advanced technology for research. Stockton researchers have been assisting the state of New Jersey and its coastal communities for over 35 years to map and assess their coastal resources and quantify shoreline change caused by multiple forcing mechanisms including climate change and sea level rise. Acquisition of a cutting-edge multibeam sonar system will enable Stockton researchers to expand their mapping capabilities and to collect data from deeper sites. This advanced mapping technology will also contribute to citizen science underwater archaeology projects at Stockton and to engagement with the recreational fishing, diving and boating communities who benefit from mapping and study of artificial reefs.The MBES system will provide high-resolution and multi-spectral capabilities for ongoing studies of coastal processes in the Mid-Atlantic and contribute to coastal evolution research to fill recognized data gaps. Simultaneous data collection at multiple frequencies allows multi-spectral analysis of bottom composition and contributes to bottom classification for habitat and resource studies. High-resolution capabilities will contribute to mapping fine structure of artificial reefs and energy generation infrastructure introduced into the underwater environment. Documenting change over time in benthic habitat, physical and biological components, as well as effects of submerged structures on ecological succession are challenging research questions. The research enabled by this instrument will expand on previous state and federal projects and be used to contribute to the development of a framework of the regional coastal ocean and inlet systems. This research is crucial in evaluation of decisions to support carbon neutral energy technologies such as offshore wind and to gauge the potential effects, positive and negative, and tradeoffs of overlaying a large underwater structural energy footprint, with its own expected biological community trajectory, over an already stressed benthic ecosystem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.